Celebrating two Cape milestones in 2018

In the past two weeks, we've witnessed two Cape milestones. On Memorial Day weekend, the Cape Gazette celebrated its 25th anniversary. And on Tuesday evening this week, Cape Henlopen High School graduated its 49th class of seniors.

Educated children represent the future of our region, state, nation and world. It's easy to be optimistic when witnessing young people in our schools, colleges and universities studying and working to make this world a better place.

At the Cape Gazette, we consider education our most important beat. We've been reporting on the activities of most of this year's graduates their entire lives: their academic, artistic and athletic achievements as well as their activism. This school year saw voters pass another referendum to improve schools, and this graduating class through its four years has been speaking out, discussing, and walking out to bring greater awareness and positive change in issues related to race, gun violence and school safety, and gender and sexual identity sensitivity.

Two Cape athletic teams further sealed Cape's status as one of Delaware's premier public school districts by bringing home state championships this spring, in baseball and girls' lacrosse. Ce'yra Middleton added icing to the cake with her indoor and outdoor state titles for shot put. Those championships brought lots of joy.

It's fun and satisfying for us to cover a community so engaged and active. Just as engaged students represent our future, our engaged readers represent our present. We're privileged to serve a growing and dynamic area with a vibrant marketplace, deep in culture, dedicated to the outdoors, and appreciating - whether natives or people who have recently moved here - that we live in a special place.

Congratulations to Cape Henlopen School District for its first 49 years filled with so many accomplishments. And thank you to all of our readers and advertisers who have been with us on this journey for 25 years in what we call the quintessential American enterprise. We reflect warmly on the past and look forward with an eye toward serving our community even better through the next 25.